I am constantly humbled and grateful for the lovely people at Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery. From the kindness and generosity they showed my friends and I when we visited the brewery for my stag, to the inspiring beers they produce for all of us to enjoy. For me, they are simply one of the best craft breweries in Ontario.
Their highly acclaimed Smashbomb Atomic I.P.A. was an explosion from the start. The LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) had a beef with it’s packaging, saying that it was in bad taste and/or violent. [as a side note, the unfortunate tsunami and resulting events in Japan had just occurred around the time it was to be released, complicating the LCBO’s decision I’m sure] After some slight revisions to the packaging, Flying Monkeys was able to retain it’s unique style of branding and release Smashbomb to the masses.
I have no illusions that I’m going to be ale to nail this recipe the first time. The complex malt character and incredible velvety hop profile that Flying Monkeys get in their beer is, to me, the pinnacle of brewing. If I’m able to pull a beer out of my keg that tastes like that, it will be the ultimate brewing reward for me. So in an attempt to capture a Flying Monkey, bear with me, this may take a few attempts!
As a demonstration of the enthusiasm and sense of community that Flying Monkeys has, on their website they not only have a description of the beer and how it came to be, but a list of ingredients they use in the beer, including malts, hops, and even the hopping schedule. I’m blown away that a brewery would share this with the world.
From their website:
- Original Gravity: 1.061
- Final Gravity: 1.016
- 6.0% ABV
- 11.72 SRM
- 70 IBU
Malt:
- Briess Victory Malt
- Briess Crystal 60
- Muntons Black Patent Malt
- 2-Row N. American Pale (Metcalf and Copeland)
Hops:
- Early Hops Citra (Wort/mash)
- Early Hops Citra (1Runnings)
- Kettle Hops Citra (Bittering)
- Kettle Hops Citra (15mins Before End Of Boil)
- Kettle Hops Citra (End Of Boil)
- Late Hop Additions Citra (whirlpool)
- Late Hop Addition Centennial (whirlpool)
- Dry Hop Citra / Centennial through Hoppapotamus
I’m going to have to alter the hop additions a bit as I don’t have a system for whirlpooling and I don’t own a “Hoppapotamus” (or hopback). I recently brewed a Red Ale in which I tried a late hop experiment upon the suggestion of a fellow home brewer. The only hop addition I did was a 50/50 ratio of Centennial/Citra at 10mins left in the boil. This addition needed to be quite large to get the necessary IBU’s into the beer, but so far, the hop character in this beer has without a doubt been my favourite, and the closest I’ve been able to come to Flying Monkeys’ beers. What I’m going to do for this recipe is mix a bit of what their site suggests, and a bit from my experience with late hopping.
Also, to get an ABV of 6.0% I need to hit a final gravity of 1.016. There are 1 of two ways to do that; the first is to beef up the specialty malts, and the second is to increase the mash temperature. I tried increasing the specialty malts in my BeerSmith program, but I ended up with a darker beer, so I’ll target a colour of 12 SRM as noted and increase my mash temperature to 156F. I know this isn’t normal for a pale ale or IPA, but I’m going to give it a try anyways. Who knows what the hell Peter Chiodo does up there at the brewery! (There is a third option, trying a less attenuative yeast than Safale US-05, but that will be after figuring out the basics)
Here’s what I’ve come up with for a first run:Carbonation and Storage
Hoptomology’s Smashbomb Atomic I.P.A. |
American IPA |
Type: All Grain | Brewer: Hoptomology | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Equipment: 7.5 Gallon Stainless Steel Pot + 10 Gallon Rubbermaid Cooler Mash Tun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Est Original Gravity: 1.061 SG | Measured Original Gravity: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG | Measured Final Gravity: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.0 % | Actual Alcohol by Vol: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bitterness: 70.0 IBUs | Bitterness Ratio: 1.148 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Est Color: 12.2 SRM | Calories: 0.0 kcal/12oz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ingredients |
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Total Grains Used: 10 lbs 9.0 oz | Total Hops Used: 4.950 oz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mash Profile |
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Mash Style: Single Infusion, Full Body | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brewhouse Efficiency: 84.00 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sparging: Fly sparge with 2.83 gal water at 168.0 F to achieve 6.18 gal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Boil Profile |
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Boil Size: 6.18 gal | Boil Time: 60 min | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
End of Boil Volume: 5.48 gal | Estimated pre-boil gravity: 1.052 S.G. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batch Size (into fermentor): 5.00 gal | Measured pre-boil Gravity: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Final Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fermentation Profile |
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Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Primary Fermentation: 10.00 days at 68.0 F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Secondary Fermentation: 7.00 days at 68.0 F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Carbonation and Storage |
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Carbonation Type: Keg | Volumes of CO2: 2.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pressure/Weight: 10.10 PSI | Age Beer for: 3.00 days | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 40.0 F | Storage Temperature: 40.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes |
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Taste Rating: 0.0 / 50 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Taste Notes: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Download: Hoptomology’s Smashbomb Atomic IPA clone – All Grain |
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www.hoptomology.com – A little about life, a lot about beer. |
You can read about the results here: Reviewing my Smashbomb Atomic IPA clone…
Cheers!
Hope it turns out. I love this beer. That photo looks damn tasty! Those are some rare hops.
Me too. (on all counts) I’m sure it’ll take a few incarnations, but I’ll let you know in a few weeks. If I have the time, I may try and brew it up tonight, if not, this coming saturday.
but it does look damn tasty!
btw, can’t take credit for the pic, I found it on the net!
Cheers
Nice work. Looking forward to putting this to the test as I am currently sitting on everything I need for this. Lots of similarities to a recipe I whipped up and brewed last Tuesday…The Florida Bomb IPA (Chinook, Amarillo and Citra) – 7.0 ABV – 70 IBU. As far as the mash and boil, it’s technically the best brew I’ve done, but taste is everything. Once that one hits the taps, I’ll take a crack at your recipe too. Can’t wait. Please follow up with tasting notes!
Thanks Joe,
Your Florida Bomb IPA sounds awesome! I haven’t had much luck with using Chinook in late additions myself, but I’d be curious to see how yours ends up. Would love to hear about and see a pic if feel so inclined.
For sure, I’ll pass on some tasting notes for this one. The commercial version is one of my top 3 beers, so I’ll be happy to nail this one down. Might take a revision or two, but I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers!
You think God can be captured and put into a test tube by mortal monkeys? None of us are able to understand. He is superior, you can not apply your human concepts of empirical evidence and scientific method to something not in the expanding, regenerating bubble that we call home. We are the ones who are in the test tube just trying to play catch up.
God is the test tube.
It IS a great beer… I think the recipe looks pretty darned good, especially what you have for the malts. You may need more dry-hopping to get that big citrus aroma that the real thing has, but it’s always fun to tweak a recipe after you’ve tried it once.
Looking forward to the tasting notes…
Hey Shawn!
Thanks for stopping by.
I think you may be right on the dry hopping. I went a little conservative to see what I get from the late hopping.
Just bottled it up this morning and it smells fantastic, just like the original. I’ll sit down in the next couple of days and write up a comparison…
Cheers!!
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